Greenport Harbor Brewing expanding

Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. announced Wednesday it has entered into a contract to purchase a larger space in Peconic to expand its production operations.

The North Fork brewer, which started brewing in July 2009, has plans to purchase the Lucas Ford dealership property in Peconic with a tentative closing date of April 1, 2012.

The larger facility will allow Greenport Harbor to purchase a new system that produces 25,000 barrels of beer per year. The company’s current Greenport address is close to maxing out with an anticipated production of 3,800 barrels for the year that are distributed across Long Island, into New York City and upstate New York.

“We’ve gotten to the point that we’re about to outstrip our production capability in Greenport,” said Richard Vandenburgh, who co-founded the company with John Liegey. “And we keep getting approached by other distributors in other states who are interested in carrying Greenport, so we really needed to expand.”

Vandenburgh assured fans of the beer, currently with more than a dozen different variations, although its currently only producing six, that the move to Peconic will not come at the expense of the company’s home, Greenport.

“Our heart and soul will always be in Greenport,” Vandenburgh said. “We will maintain the tasting room on Carpenter Street [in Greenport] and use the production space for an apprenticeship program. We want to give those interested in breaking into the business an opportunity to learn.”

The Lucas Ford property will also feature an additional tasting room with indoor and outdoor seating.

Vandenburgh said the larger facility will allow the brewing company to double its staff and also explore bottling its product, although that likely won’t happen until 2014.

“We ultimately wanted to stay on the North Fork,” Vandenburgh said. “We believe very much in that aspect of community and just really wanted to keep all production here on the Island.”